The experiences of the 8 medical students in their 2nd exposure in Brgy. Logan. 

Climbing the Top: Health Assessment of Barangay Logan

Logan, situated in the far northeast of Ipil, sitting 14 kilometers away from town, is home to the simple life of locals. Life there is uncomplicated, as people make do with what they have. But, even a simple life comes with its own set of challenges.

In this episode, we will be talking about the health challenges that the people of Logan face and how we, as catalysts of change and agents of health, aim to help address these problems.

The people of Logan are welcoming. They would invite you to their houses with warm smiles, and offer you snacks while you interview them. They have such a big heart and a lot of hospitality to give. They also never fail to greet you whenever they walk past your door. Until suddenly, you don't see them passing by anymore, because they feel lightheaded and have a pounding headache. They come and visit the health center just to know if they have something for the headache, and as part of protocol, you take their blood pressure and boom – 160/100. You opened the logbook to jot it down for recording and were surprised to see a long list of names with blood pressures rising up to 200/110. The Barangay Health Worker confirms to you, almost casually, that a majority of the residents are on that list.

So, as a team with a purpose, we looked into this health problem and found out the harsh reality of the situation of hypertension in Logan.

Based on our survey of 145 individuals, 67 were found to be hypertensive — that’s 37% of those screened, with an incidence rate of 88 per 1,000 population, far exceeding the national average of 31.8 per 1,000. What's alarming is that only 26 hypertensive cases were recorded at the RHU, which shows a wide gap in detection, monitoring, or reporting. Among hypertensive residents, 98.5% consumed salty food on a daily basis, 67.2% were tobacco users, and only 26.9% engaged in regular physical activity. And even if most respondents were aware that hypertension can cause complications and knew the value of medication, only 21% were actually adherent to their prescribed therapy. The rest either forgot, stopped taking meds when they “felt okay,” or preferred herbal remedies like guyabano leaves and garlic. The reasons ranged from side effects, cost, fatigue, to simply being tired of taking pills every day.

Having a high blood pressure was normalized, but what's even more concerning is medicine adherence hasn't. It appeared that despite being diagnosed with hypertension, residents are adamant about avoiding maintenance medicines for their hypertension and use herbal medicines instead.

With this, TopsiLogan aims to strengthen hypertension screening, increase health literacy on the chronic nature of the disease, and introduce sustainable medication adherence interventions through trained Barangay Health Workers and culturally-sensitive health education.

Hypertension is an ongoing problem in Logan, but it mostly affects those aged 30 and above. For the younger population, however, the health concern takes a different shape — teenage pregnancy. According to the Barangay Captain, early pregnancy isn’t perceived as a crisis but rather as a natural stage in life. It’s normalized, even expected. But during our focus group discussions with parents, a different tone emerged. Many expressed regret, saying that having children at such a young age robs girls of their future — their education, their careers, and even the freedom to choose what they want in life.

Our data confirms the scope of the problem. From 2022 to mid-2025, out of 41 recorded pregnancies, 11 were among teenagers. That’s 26.8% — more than a quarter. The youngest was just 15 years old. Most of them were between 15 to 17, unmarried, and none had completed senior high school. Some had dropped out as early as junior high. These girls were mostly out of school, staying home to raise their children. A 17-year-old, who should be in Grade 10, is now taking care of a four-year-old child. A 15-year-old, supposed to be in Grade 8, is pregnant with her first. Both suffered from pre-eclampsia, with the younger one requiring a cesarean section.

Teenage pregnancy in Logan is not just a health issue — it’s one wrapped in silence, stigma, and missed opportunities. Many of the girls admitted to not knowing how to avoid pregnancy, and the few who did only learned about contraception through friends or hearsay. The idea of talking about sex and family planning at home remained taboo, and only a handful had ever received counseling from health professionals. This lack of awareness and open communication leaves adolescents to navigate major life decisions blindfolded, often at the cost of their own futures.

Speaking of pregnancy, another looming health problem in Logan is the gaps in prenatal coverage of pregnant women ages 20–40 years old.

While teenage pregnancy and gaps in prenatal coverage may appear to be separate concerns, our team recognized that they are connected by a shared need for comprehensive reproductive health education and accessible maternal services. Both issues are being addressed through the PRECEDE model, focusing on predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors. However, the distinction lies in the population and intent. Our interventions for teenage pregnancy are preventive in nature, aiming to equip adolescents with the knowledge and resources to make informed choices before pregnancy occurs. This involves school-based education, open discussions within families, and greater access to youth-friendly reproductive services. On the other hand, our strategy for prenatal care targets women who are already pregnant, emphasizing the importance of early consultation, complete check-ups, and consistent antenatal care. It addresses not only awareness, but also structural barriers such as distance, limited transportation, and occasional stockouts of prenatal supplements. 

The three problems mentioned are just but half of the identified problems we have in Barangay Logan. The other half consists of Rising Cases of Dengue Fever and Poor Waste Management Practices. Two interconnected problems.

With our assessment on rising cases of dengue, we have found that several puroks in Logan were classified under high to very high sanitation risk. Using the DOH-adapted Environmental Sanitation Checklist, we evaluated 45 households and found that 84.4% had visible mosquito breeding sites, 80% had uncovered water containers, and 73.3% had clogged drainage canals nearby. Only 17.8% of the households practiced solid waste segregation, and even fewer participated in cleanup drives. Larvicide use was nearly nonexistent, and fogging had only been conducted once in the past year. These findings led to sanitation risk scores classifying four puroks under "High Risk" and one under "Very High Risk." When combined with increased dengue case reports during the rainy months, the poor environmental sanitation clearly plays a significant role in amplifying vector-borne disease risk in the area.

On the other hand, the issue of poor solid waste management in Logan runs deep and far beyond just mosquito breeding. Our assessment uncovered that while 80.2% of households claim to segregate waste, a majority (64.2%) still dump their garbage in backyards using sacks. Open burning remains widespread, with 51.8% admitting to routinely burning waste, including plastics. Only 6.2% engage in composting, and another 6.2% sell recyclables. Meanwhile, 66.6% of residents reported that there are no adequate landfill or dumping sites in the barangay. Unsurprisingly, 100% of households manage their waste disposal on their own, without any support from private collectors or government-led solid waste enterprises. These practices are largely shaped by convenience, lack of access to formal waste infrastructure, and irregular garbage collection schedules. Worse, although most residents are aware of the environmental and health risks, proper disposal practices remain inconsistent, especially in remote puroks. What this tells us is that the burden of SWM doesn’t just fall on individual habits — it also points to structural gaps that have long gone unaddressed.

These problems were narrowed down to formulate precise actions, and address problems accordingly. And with due process, we were able to narrow them down into three (3), hypertension, teenage pregnancy, and poor waste management.